Monday 16/5/16
Peterboroughtoday.co.uk – One of Peterborough’s oldest buildings set to open as bar or restaurant? One of the city’s oldest buildings could return to use as a bar or restaurant. Dating from the 15th century, the former workhouse in Cumbergate, opposite Carluccio’s, has been used as a beauty salon for more than 30 years by well-known city business Burghley Academy, which has just relocated. It has a number of period features and a towering glass-topped atrium at the rear. Now the city’s planners have approved the three-storey building’s change of use to allow it to be operated as a shop, restaurant or bar. The shop and restaurant use are consistent with council policy in the area – close to the revamped Cathedral Square and St John’s Square which has attracted big name restaurant and bar operators in the past couple of years. Agents for the building owners said use as a bar was also appropriate, as it was one that had been “declining over the last few years with a number of former drinking establishments in and around Cathedral Square changing use to restaurants/cafes. “The proposal will therefore add to the evening and leisure economy of the city centre.”
Propelinfonews.com – Rodizio restaurant set to open at Tokyo Industries’ Brew Haus site in Lincoln: A Brazilian rodizio restaurant concept is set to open at Tokyo Industries’ Brew Haus site in Lincoln in June. The Brew Haus venue has been remodelled and rebranded as The House and Bar of Tiago, offering cuisine from across the globe and creating up to 15 jobs. Serious Investment, which operates a House of Tiago site in Norwich, will run the new Brazilian-style restaurant alongside the existing Brew Haus bar after striking a rental deal with Tokyo Industries, which is led by Aaron Mellor. The revamped venue will feature an £8,000 grill from Brazil, with the menu offering up to 16 different meats and a hot and cold buffet. Carvers will pass from table to table and cut up meat in front of customers in Brazilian rodizio style. The Brew Haus bar will continue to be run as normal.
Propelinfonews.com – New micro-brewery and bar to open in Letchworth next month: A new micro-brewery and bar will open in Letchworth, Hertfordshire, next month. Holly-Anne Rolfe is launching the Garden City Brewery on Saturday, 11 June in The Wynd on the site of the former Aly’s Diner. The bar is built out of reclaimed scaffolding boards while the main brewing equipment will be behind the bar, but visible from the drinking area. The brewery will serve its ales “on gravity” – tapping and pouring them straight from the cask rather than through a hand pump – and source locally as much as possible. There are two brews ready so far – a pale ale using American hops and an experimental bitter blending the best of British hops. Next up is a robust porter Rolfe hopes will be ready by the end of the month. The bar will also serve other local ales, ciders, as well as non-alcoholic options – including soft drinks made in-house. Rolfe told The Comet: “The beauty of being small means we can change and adapt to what people want and have the freedom to experiment and try new things, which is really exciting.”
Tuesday 17/5/16
Propelinfonews.com – Steamin’ Billy Brewing to open second Hinckley pub, 13th venue: Leicestershire-based brewer and retailer Steamin’ Billy Brewing, led by Billy Allingham, will open its 13th pub – The White Bear in Hinckley – in June. The pub in Coventry Road was formerly known as The Sportsman Inn and will be the second Steamin’ Billy site in Hinckley, alongside The Railway. Allingham told Propel: “We’ve already got big plans for the new pub. We’re renovating and creating new signage to bring a new spark to the local area. We want The White Bear to have the best beer garden in Hinckley and eventually Leicester, so we’re developing the exterior too. The concept of the new place will be based around street food mixed in with great craft beers and burgers.” The White Bear will feature a new “Burgers & Brews” menu, offering home-minced and handcrafted burgers seven days a week, from midday to 3pm and 6pm to 9pm. In December, Steamin’ Billy Brewing said it was considering issuing a “Steamin’ Billy bond” to fund further acquisitions.
Wednesday 18/5/16
CityAM.com – Pub sales suffered as a result of cold weather and an early Easter, according to figures from CGA Peach’s Coffer Peach Business Tracker: Pub groups experienced a 2.7 per cent sales decline on the same month last year, undermining wider growth in casual dining trading, although restaurant groups registered a like-for-like trading increase of 2.5 per cent. The Coffer Peach Business Tracker collects sales figures from 31 leading restaurant and leisure groups, including Whitbread, The Restaurant Group, Wagamama, Fuller’s, Gaucho and Carluccio’s. The eating and drinking-out market as a whole continued to experience a slowdown in April, with collective like-for-like sales down 0.8 per cent on April 2015. This was the lowest figure recorded in the previous 12 months and followed a modest 0.6 per cent uptick in March. “April’s performance can in part be put down to the cold weather, to Easter being in March rather than April this year and also to the general slow-down in the wider economy in the run-up to the Brexit vote, but the underlying fact is that the overall market has been essentially flat since the start of the year, with April’s numbers coming on the back of zero growth in February and only a small uptick in March,” Peter Martin, vice president of CGA Peach, said. “The cold weather in the month also helps to explain why restaurants did better than pubs, as poor weather always tends to favour restaurants and good weather pubs,” Martin added. “But taken together we are seeing a slowdown in market growth.” Total sales for the month among the 31 companies in CGA Peach’s Tracker cohort were up 3.1 per cent on 2015, reflecting the fact that groups are still opening new sites, if at a slower rate than previously. Paul Newman, head of leisure and hospitality at RSM, said: “This month’s figures again show a disappointing like-for-like trend, particularly outside of London. This slowdown in growth is in part driven by an increasing number of exciting new concepts taking market share from the established, mainstream operators whose results dominate Business Tracker.”
Morning Advertiser – Trade warned to be ‘careful’ when working with street-food pop ups
By Emily Sutherland, 17-May-2016
An angry Hampstead publican has warned fellow operators to be on their guard when organising street-food residencies after he had to remove a burger shack from his pub garden. Read More
Propelinfonews.com – BaxterStorey agrees deal to buy wonky asparagus to help tackle food waste increase across hospitality sector: Contract catering company BaxterStorey has agreed a deal to buy wonky asparagus to help tackle the increase in food waste across the hospitality sector. The company is working with Watts Farm in Kent and Essex, which supplies supermarkets, foodservice providers, restaurants and farmers’ markets with about 70 different fruit and vegetable products. Last year, Watts Farm produced 36 tonnes of perfectly good asparagus, but 15% of this did not meet the specification required and was graded as waste. Uneven asparagus is graded as class two or three, and much of this product is used as compost. BaxterStorey has committed to purchasing class two and three asparagus from Watts Farm to use across many of its locations on a trial basis, with a view to rolling out across further sites. It will also take some of the farm’s asparagus trimmings, which are routinely wasted, to use them as the basis of a range of fresh soups, stocks and sauces. Demand for uniformity in fruit and vegetables is causing an increase in food waste across the UK, with a study by consumer research company WRAP estimating £3bn of food will be wasted by the UK foodservice and hospitality sector this year, up from £2.5bn in 2011.
Thursday 19/5/16
Propelinfonews.com – Employment minister Priti Patel calls for EU exit to ‘save our curry houses’: Employment minister Priti Patel has launched a “save our curry houses” appeal to combat the government’s “biased” immigration policy. She said taking back control of Britain’s immigration policies by voting “Leave” in next month’s European Union referendum would help stop the current situation of three-to-five curry restaurants closing a week. Patel warned curry restaurants were being starved of high-quality chefs by the government’s “biased” immigration policy, which caps the number of skilled workers from outside the EU. With David Cameron seeking to cut net migration to Britain to below 100,000, Patel said: “Uncontrolled immigration from the EU has led to tougher controls on migrants from the rest of the world. This means we cannot bring in the talents and the skills we need to support our economy. By voting to leave we can take back control of our immigration policies, save our curry houses and join the rest of the world.” Patel, who announced a “Save The British Curry Day” will take place in June, was backed by Enam Ali, founder of the British Curry Awards and Spice Magazine, and Pasha Khandaker, president of the Bangladesh Caterers Association.
Friday 20/5/16
Propelinfonews.com: ALMR council member to close Scunthorpe’s sole remaining nightclub, licensing laws turning centre into ‘ghost town’: John Hayes, who sits on the national council of The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR), has likened Scunthorpe town centre at night to a “ghost town” after announcing he was to close Bamboogy, its last remaining nightclub. Hayes is Scunthorpe’s longest-serving publican and opened Bamboogy in High Street in 1981 as Garbo’s. The venue will close on Tuesday, 31 May. Hayes, who is also chairman of Goodfellas Bars, which operates the club, told the Scunthorpe Telegraph: “At times High Street at night looks like a ghost town so the company has reviewed its options and decided not to renew the lease and to pull out of the town and concentrate on its bars in north west England.” He added: “Unfortunately our local magistrates started the rot during the early part of the millennium and granted too many new licences too quickly over a three-year period, without any thought of the size of the town and how it would maintain its sustainability, and what effect that might have on the future of the town’s late-night economy. The new Licensing Act has very little in it that allows for refusals of new applications so, even if they wanted to, councils could only add to the mistakes the magistrates had made, and without a constructive plan in place it became impossible to maintain the great atmosphere the town centre once had. There are, of course, other reasons for the downturn in footfall, including the smoking ban and the use of social media.”
Propelinfonews.com: JD Wetherspoon puts another 33 pubs on market: JD Wetherspoon has put another 33 pubs up for sale. The company has instructed agents CBRE and Savills to handle the disposal of 45 of its pubs. The properties, which are being considered for sale either individually, in small packages or as a portfolio, are located in strong town and city centre locations in England, Scotland and Wales. Of the 45 pubs, 33 are being brought to the market for the first time. The outlets have strong exposure to London and the south with 23 located in these regions. 16 are freehold or held on a long lease at a low rent, with the remaining 29 outlets held on standard commercial leases with an average unexpired term of more than 18 years. A brochure advertising the properties, which trade under JD Wetherspoon and Lloyds No 1, said they tended to be some of the largest pubs in their towns with an average ground-floor gross internal area of more than 5,000 square feet. All of the properties have the benefit of a late licence and a number also have external seating areas. The 33 new pubs for sale are Banbury – Fleur-de-Lis (leasehold); Bathgate – James Young (freehold); Berwick-upon-Tweed – Leaping Salmon (freehold); Birmingham – Soloman Cutler (leasehold); Bootle – Merton Inn (freehold); Boscombe – Sir Percy Florence Shelley (freehold); Bradford – Sir Titus Salt (long leasehold); Cheadle Hulme – King’s Hall (freehold); Dagenham – Lord Denman (leasehold); Dartford – Paper Moon (leasehold); Ellesmere Port – Thomas Telford (freehold); Forest Hill – Capitol (leasehold); Hull – William Wilberforce (freehold); Lincoln – Forum (leasehold); Maidenhead – Greyhound (leasehold); Mansfield – Stag and Pheasant (leasehold); Milton Keynes – David Garrick (leasehold); Mitcham – White Lion of Mortimer (leasehold); Newbury – Diamond Tap (leasehold); Newcastle – Union Rooms (freehold); Newport – Tom Toya Lewis (freehold); Newquay – Cribbar (leasehold); North Finchley – Tally Ho (leasehold); Nuneaton – Felix Holt (freehold); Putney – Railway (leasehold); Reading – Monk’s Retreat (leasehold); Rugby – Lawrence Sheriff (freehold); Sittingbourne – Summoner (leasehold); Sunderland – Lambton Worm (leasehold); Tamworth – Silk Kite (leasehold); Torquay – London Inn (leasehold); Walsall – Imperial (leasehold); and Walton-on-Thames – Regent (leasehold). A spokesperson on behalf of the joint agents said: “The portfolio represents an excellent opportunity to acquire high volume businesses with strong food sales in established locations which are fitted to an extremely high standard. We therefore anticipate a broad range of interest from pub, bar and restaurant groups.” The launch of the portfolio by JD Wetherspoon follows the successful sale of packages of pubs in recent months to operators including Amber Taverns, Brewhouse & Kitchen, Hawthorn Leisure, Stonegate and Urban Pubs & Bars.
Propelinfonews.com – Great Northern Inns to rebrand Nottingham city centre pub as second Southbank Bar: Great Northern Inns has closed The Approach in Nottingham city centre and will relaunch the pub as its second Southbank Bar. The new Southbank Bar – Nottingham City will focus on live sports, with 22 screens and a 155-inch projector as well as private booths, dartboard, American pool and a PlayStation 4 – all available for hire. The pub is set to reopen in time for the Euro 16 football tournament. The bar will also feature live music and DJs five nights a week. A US-inspired menu will be on offer from 9am to 9pm. Great Northern Inns director David Willans said: “We had been looking for a while for the right venue to open our second Southbank Bar and this seemed like the perfect route for it, given the central location. We have secured a new lease through Fraser Brown solicitors. We have also brought on two of our longest-serving managers as partners in this venture to deliver an amazing new bar to Nottingham city centre.” As well as its other Southbank Bar in Trent Bridge, Great Northern Inns also operates The Cross Keys and Trent Navigation Inn pubs, three Copper Café, Bar & Lounge sites and The Old Flower Shop restaurant, all in and around Nottingham.
Bighospitality.co.uk – Punch plans to drive accommodation across estate
By Emma Eversham+, 19-May-2016
Leased pub owner Punch is pushing forward with plans to boost its accommodation business across the UK after seeing success with a pilot scheme in Scotland. Read More
Cambridge News – New hotel for Cambridge railway station as Irish chain unveils first British venture: A top chain of hotels is to open its first UK site in Cambridge – and wants to appeal to locals as well as visitors to the city. Four-star hotel The Tamburlaine is on schedule to open next spring at the CB1 development around Cambridge railway station. The latest offshoot of the O’Callaghan Hotels Group is set to be a landmark destination for business and leisure travellers, who will be able to stay a stone’s throw from the station. The Tamburlaine hotel will include a restaurant, bar and a standalone café. It will also provide 155 modern rooms and suites fitted out with the latest technology, along with meeting rooms with state-of-the-art audio and visual equipment. “We are very excited to be opening our first UK hotel in Cambridge, in the heart of this vibrant and exciting quarter, CB1,” said O’Callaghan Hotels Group CEO Bryan O’Callaghan. “The Tamburlaine will be a great addition to the community and we hope to establish it as much a place to meet up for locals as it will be for business and leisure travellers. “Our reputation has been built on friendly, high-quality service for the discerning visitor and we are very much looking forward to catering for the UK market with The Tamburlaine.” Artist Jyll Bradly has been commissioned to produce the public art which will feature at the front of the hotel. The O’Callaghan chain already has hotels in Dublin, Gibraltar and Annapolis in the US. A spokeswoman for Brookgate, the developers of CB1, said “The Tamburlaine hotel is rapidly taking shape and the opening of a four-star hotel will be a significant milestone in the development of CB1. “The exclusive hotel is a major contribution to the transformation of the area around the station, creating a destination and a sense of place, in what will be a new city quarter for Cambridge.”